All Ford Day Geelong
Gearshifter was at the 2021 All Ford Day in Geelong last Sunday! The event celebrated its 30th year as one of Australia’s largest single make displays. Over 1000 Ford vehicles graced three Eastern Park ovals, representing just about every make and model from both the domestic and overseas markets.
2021 Eddington Sprints
According to the Wikipedia entry for the small town of Eddington, located in Central Victoria, there are, within its boundaries ‘ two former hotels, a former general store, former police station and lockup, former primary school and former garage.’ With a current population of around 96, and its glory years evidently well past, it is […]
Phillip Island Classic
Staged annually since 1989 the Phillip Island Classic ‘Festival of Motorsport’ brings together a huge range of vintage and classic vehicles from both Australia and overseas. As the title implies this is no show’n’shine for polished trailer queens but a genuine race event where entrants pit their seasoned vehicles against one another on one of […]
Ford Model T
With over 15 million examples produced from 1908 to 1927 the Ford Model T has gone down in automotive history as the vehicle that provided average wage earning Americans (and others worldwide) with affordable and reliable motorised transportation. Ease of use was also an important factor when putting a relatively complex mechanical apparatus in the […]
Diecast Car Collecting
Chances are when you were a kid you had a few Corgi, Matchbox, Hotwheels or lesser known brand diecast cars scattered around your room (remember Majorette?), ready at any time for a quick lap of the rug or desktop. And chances are that over time your collection gradually disappeared via destruction (intentional or otherwise), […]
A French Vintage Car Adventure
The early days of motoring inspired many adventurous characters to test the limits of their new machines, often traversing landscapes that had never before witnessed mechanical transportation. One such person was Frenchman Ferdinand Francois Philippe Marie d’Orleans, Duke of Montpensier. A member of the House of Orleans, the Duke had the means to indulge in […]
License Plates
License plates, number plates, registration plates; whatever you call them they have been a ubiquitous element of motorcar and bike ownership since, well, the emergence of motorcars and bikes. First introduced in France in 1893 this regulated system rapidly spread throughout the world as both local and national government bodies rushed to keep track of […]
DLRA Speed Week
Founded in 1990 the DLRA (Dry Lakes Racing Association) organizes and runs the annual ‘Speed Week’ at Lake Gairdner, a salt lake 440 kms N.E of Adelaide, South Australia. This unique week long event gives entrants the opportunity to run their vehicles flat out across the salt as fast as they dare go. Drivers from […]
Rob Roy Hillclimb
One of the oldest forms of motorsport, hillclimbing pits a driver against the clock in a literal uphill battle to be the fastest to the top. In 1937 members of the Light Car Club of Australia established the Rob Roy hillclimb event at Christmas Hills, 30 kilometres north east of Melbourne, Victoria. At the time […]